Christmas Without You
by theschuesters
Summary: Emma thinks she is bound to spend her Christmas Eve alone, with Will still in Washington... Forgive this terrible summary though. I tried. I really did. Rated M for a tiny bit of smut. Hoping to ease all Wemma fanfic cravings!


A/N: This is a hastily-written drabble because I was (sort of) busy (pretending to be) studying for my exams and I couldn't dwell much on this.

Prompts: Christmas songs playing in the mall, the Christmas tree in the college lobby, playing Christmas Eve With You on repeat, and endless talks of Christmas plans with friends. Christmas feels everywhere!

**Christmas Without You**

A Wemma fanfic

_December 24__th__, 2012. Lima, Ohio._

She scrambled around the kitchen, her hands busy accommodating all the various kitchen tools laid out on the counter. One moment she was mixing the batter in a stainless silver bowl, and then she would hurry over to the other end of the kitchen, checking on the pasta noodles waiting to boil, before she would bend over and see if the chicken was roasting well in the oven just below the stove. For some people it might seem like a confusing and exhausting thing to do—preparing everything for Christmas Eve dinner alone, but Emma Pillsbury did it with such grace and efficiency it seemed like such an easy task to overcome. Her mind was focused on what she needed to accomplish, and what motivated her was not only her need for organization and perfection, but for whom she was doing all of this for: Will Schuester, her fiancé; soon, he will be her husband. Emma beamed at the thought, although she was both excited and slightly anxious merely imagining her future with him.

Will had called yesterday, disappointment in his voice when he said he couldn't go home that day because his flight back to Ohio had been cancelled due to a raging snow storm. He said he was going to camp out in the airport and catch the earliest flight back home because he missed Emma terribly and wanted more than anything to spend the Christmas vacation with her, but it was not much of a consolation to her; it also bothered her that Will was willing to sleep in the airport, knowing how all sorts of germs were lurking around such a public place.

Finally, the day of Christmas Eve came and Will called early in the morning, laughing gleefully as he announced that the sky has cleared and that it was safe to finally board a plane and fly back to Ohio. _Back to her._ "I'll be there by dinner, Em. I love you," he crooned sweetly into his phone, imagining Emma's features, how she must be reacting upon hearing the good news—her eyes widening, her face turning red, and the beautiful grin she usually tries to conceal (but failing to do so) by biting her lower lip. As soon as the their phone conversation ended Emma set to work at once, wanting to make sure Will came home from Washington with a special, 'welcome-home-sweetheart', Christmas Eve dinner waiting warm and delicious on the table for him.

Emma was humming to herself (a tune she wasn't sure she made up or something she vaguely heard somewhere) while she carefully placed the plates and utensils in an orderly manner on the dining table, when the shrill ringing of the telephone made her gasp in surprise, breaking her focus. _Maybe it was her parents, or Will's_, _probably going to wish them an early Merry Christmas. _She set the fork down and walked over to the living room, picking up the phone with her small hand, the other slipped contentedly into the pocket of her apron. "Yes, good evening," She greeted. Whoever the person on the other line was didn't matter much to Emma at the moment because she was more worried about setting up the dining table in time before Will got home. He never said what time he would arrive back in Lima but she knew he'd be home to have dinner with her. At last, after seemingly endless nights of either having dinner alone or sometimes with Shannon, Emma would finally get to be with the man she loved the most, stare lovingly into his face while they ate and talked about everything there was to possibly talk about. She was beginning to lose herself in memories of her and Will together when the person on the other line replied.

"Hey, Emma." It was… Will. _Funny how she was just thinking about him when he called. Was he at the Lima airport? On a cab home, perhaps?_ But his voice—low and barely audible— was tugging at Emma's insides, and as much as she hated to trust her instincts she could sense something was wrong. With Will sounding as dejected and lifeless as he had when he found out she was married to Carl, it only made Emma clench her hand tightly onto the phone, her bones prominent against her paled skin. But she had to be optimistic; it was Christmas time after all, surely nothing would go wrong….

"Will, sweetie, is everything o-okay?" She whispered. "You're on y-your way home now… aren't you?"

"Well, about that…." There was an unmistakable sigh coming from Will's end of the phone and it increased Emma's anxiety. She didn't want to know what was going to happen next, what he was going to say next, but she couldn't seem to pull the phone away from her ear. She remained silent, biting her lower lip while her body muscles tensed. "Something came up in the airport as soon as I called you this morning, Em. I… I don't know what really happened, but—"

"But…," Emma's voice weakened into a murmur.

Will sighed again. "The power ran out in the airport—a-and I tried to find ways to call you about it because they had to cancel all the flights again, but my phone battery died. I wanted to call you as soon as it happened but I blanked out, I was panicking and— and— well, the power came back just ten minutes ago. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, honey…." Will had stopped talking, but his breathing was loud and shallow on the other line.

Emma however, seemed to have held her breath, trying to take everything in, not wanting to believe what she had just heard. "So, um… y-you mean…?"

There was silence on the other end, before Will cleared his throat and mumbled, "So, it means that… I… I won't make it home for dinner tonight." He sighed loudly again. "But the airport personnel promised all flights would resume tomorrow morning so I promise— I promise you, Emma, I'll be home tomorrow. Christmas Day, I promise."

The room suddenly seemed to spin and Emma had to lean against the wall to steady herself. Unknowingly, tears were forming in her eyes and her lips were dry, her body numb and unfeeling.

"Emma… a-are you crying?" Will called out, his voice comforting yet saddening to hear.

"N-no, I'm fine, W-Will," she replied weakly, her voice shaking. A tear slipped from her eye and she tried to smile, hoping to stop the tears from coming. "I understand. I-I do. I'll see you, then… t-tomorrow, okay?"

"I am so sorry, Emma. I love you, I love you, I love you, okay? Please don't cry, darling. You have no idea how bad I feel about this too."

"I-I know." Tears were rolling down Emma's cheeks and she wiped them nonchalantly with the back of her hand. "I love you too, W-Will. I just r-really miss you already," she whispered.

"I miss you too, Em," he answered her reassuringly. "Listen, I'll call you back later, okay? I'll talk to the airport personnel to make sure I get a flight first thing tomorrow morning. I love you," he said. "And Emma?"

"Y-yes?" Emma forced the words out her lips. The reality of not having Will to spend Christmas with was starting to sink in, and it drained her energy. It was going to be another night of not having Will next to her, and to think it was Christmas Eve tonight; just thinking of Will freezing and alone in the airport, waiting to get home… just everything that was happening to him, to them, dampened her cheerful holiday mood.

"Merry Christmas." Will said his final goodbye and hung up, not waiting to hear Emma's reply although admittedly, she was in a state of shock and already at a loss of words to be able to answer him back. Emma, like a zombie, walked aimlessly back to the kitchen, tearing up as she laid her eyes on the table arrangement she had worked so hard on, before trotting lifelessly back to the living room and slumping on the couch, crying.

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas;  
let your heart be light.  
From now on,  
our troubles will be out of sight…._

Emma slowly opened her swollen and reddened eyes, listening to the faint Christmas song someone was singing outside the door. It was typical for some of the church choir members to sing door-to-door in their neighborhood at this time of year and ask for any donations which they could give the homeless people on Christmas Day, and Emma thought it was one of those nights.

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas;  
make the Yuletide gay.  
From now on,  
our troubles will be miles away._

The singing voice grew louder and Emma knew that whoever it was had stopped in front of the door of the apartment. Emma's heart was beginning to race, because she very well knew who the voice belonged to; it was the most familiar voice she would no doubt recognize anywhere. It was a voice she'd never get tired of hearing, the only voice that could calm her down, the voice that could sing her to sleep. She raced towards the door and swung it wide open, breathing heavily as a man with curly brown hair and an unmistakable chin dimple smiled meekly at her, his green eyes having that unique sparkle that brought her to life.

_Here we are as in olden days,  
Happy golden days of yore…._

Will stopped singing, smiling again at Emma. He had set his luggage on the floor beside him, while she gaped at him, her swollen eyes fixed on him. "Hi," said Will, spreading his arms wide open, grinning. "I'm home."

"I… I can see that," Emma muttered. "But you said— the airport—" Her thin eyebrows were furrowed and she frowned at him as she tried to figure out how he had gotten home so easily.

"I'm glad you fell for it!" Will exclaimed, proud of himself. "I really wanted to surprise you Em, so I thought I'd pretend to not make it home tonight so you wouldn't expect me to be—"

"You made that up? All… a-all that you said about the airport—?"

"Yes! Right after I arrived here, I called you. Completely made it up on the spot. Genius, eh?" He chuckled as he stepped inside their apartment, but Emma held him back at the shoulders, pushing him back slightly, keeping their distance.

"You lied to me!" She retorted. Her eyes pierced him in a way Will had never witnessed before.

"Emma— honey, I wanted to surprise you—"

"Go back to Washington," she growled, turning her back against him and stomping off into their bedroom, her heels tapping angrily against the floor.

"W-what? Emma wait—" Will walked briskly, his hands raised in surrender while he followed her."Sweetie, wait—aren't you glad to see me?" He grabbed her arms and gave a light squeeze, but Emma shook his hands off as she faced him, her face wet with tears.

"I am! Of course I am!" She sobbed. "But to think I w-won't be seeing you tonight and you suddenly p-pop out of nowhere? W-Will—" Emma pursed her lips in an attempt to hold back her sobbing, but she ended up bursting out into even more tears. Her knees quivered as she gasped for breath, and Will rushed to pull her against him, guiding her head to rest on his chest.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, kissing the top of Emma's head while she let him rub her back. "Em, I really feel bad right now. I'm sorry, okay? I only did this to surprise you… please forgive me?"

Emma pressed her face onto Will's chest, dampening the maroon-striped green cloth of his sweater. "You can't joke about something like this, honey." She cleared her throat and sniffed as she looked up at Will and playfully rolled her eyes at him; Will knew at that moment that she had forgiven him, and all was well between them again. "And I guess it freaked me out that you won't be coming home to me, especially since it's Christmas."

"Well, even if I did get stuck in Washington you know I'll find a way to be with you, Em." Will chuckled and nuzzled his nose against the tip of Emma's. Emma grinned as she finally relaxed in Will's embrace, settling her arms around his waist.

"That's good. Because you would have missed a lot if you were still in Washington tonight…." Her voice was suddenly low and sultry. Will's mouth unconsciously hung open, his heart pumping faster, and heat was racing like fire all over his body.

"What would I have m-missed then?"

"Christmas dinner, of course!" laughed Emma, the remnants of tears making her eyes glow. "Close your mouth, Will," she added, pinching his chin dimple with her fingers.

"_Only Christmas dinner?_" Will teased, one of his eyebrows arching upward. "Nothing else?" He pouted his lips together as he stared Emma down, his reflection crystal clear in his future wife's eyes.

"Well if you could convince me, I could… give you more." Emma took Will's hands and placed them on her buttocks, and she moaned lightly as his fingers grasped her firm behind. The look on Emma's face didn't need a lot of convincing from Will at all and they both knew, with the glint of excitement on their faces, which would come first.

Dinner would have to wait tonight.

A/N: Smut? Almost. LOL I'm sorry. I tried to write more but then my brain wasn't cooperating much anymore so I ended it. _Christmas without you isn't Christmas at all_; you know that, right? Thank you for reading, to anyone who actually put up with my random idea. Consider this my early Christmas present Wemma people!


End file.
